Here is part II on how to rent out your basement suite. Enjoy! I suggest you read Part I first if you haven’t yet. PS the picture is my actual rent receipt booklet! $1.25 at the dollar store 
5. Advertise… on Speed!
Post ads in Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace, University student websites, Foreign exchange student websites, talk to people and ask if acquaintances or friends are interested in renting a basement suite. Go to the post-secondary areas and post up some old fashioned paper ads on telephone poles.
Pick a good time to advertise. There are good months to rent a suite out and there are bad months (from what I’ve found in my short time of having a basement suite). Some of the popular months are December/ January and September (or before September- students are scrambling to find housing before school starts).
Keep renewing your ads. I renewed my Craigslist ads whenever it allowed me (it locks you out for about 72 hours after then you are allowed to “bump” your ad to the top). Otherwise, your ad falls to the very bottom and people don’t bother looking at it because they may think there has already been someone who fulfilled that ad.
6. Show the Place (Many, Many Times)
Set up a convenient time for both of you. This is a good opportunity to suss out your potential new tenant and see what they are like (e.g. if they are too tall for your basement suite LOL). I had to show my basement suite probably about 8-10 times (which was annoying when they don’t bother calling you to tell you they’re not interested) before our current tenants found our place.
This seemingly idle chit chat can be invaluable to see what your potential tenant might be like? Are they needy? Do they seem annoying? Do they seem flaky? Do they have jobs?
Some people recommend getting the potential tenants to fill out a tenant application form if they are interested in applying for the suite. This allows you to get some information about them before you agree to their request to live in your suite.
7. Credit Check (?)
This is a must-do for many landlords out there, however, many others decide not to do it. Many potential tenants get turned off by having to do a credit check (either they are students or they may not be from Canada). However if you’re stuck with a nonpaying tenant things can get hairy. If you are going to do a credit check, it costs about $20 and it can be done through a national service like Tenant Verification Service.
8. Rental Agreement and Inspection Report
Having something in writing is really important to ensure smooth communication between the landlord and renter. You may look back on these documents and say “OH THANK GOODNESS I HAVE THIS IN WRITING!” A rental agreement lays out your expectations on utilities (whether you will pay or not), on payment date of rent, on the amount of rent, and on the lease terms. An inspection report is also important because it tells you what damage existed before the rental and you examine it at the end of the rental term again. For anything that is damaged (well, obviously damaged anyway), the security deposit can be used to pay for these damages. Both of these can be obtained from this great website called Law Depot. It cost me about $20 for the rental agreement form and another $12 for the inspection report. It’s nice to have things look official (even if you don’t feel it!).
A great website to help you with the rental process is the Greater Vancouver Apartment Guide. It has everything from tenant advice to landlord advice and lets you know who might be wrong or how to mediate any issues that arise.
9. Get ready to Landlord!
We bought a receipt book at the dollar store and received our security deposit and our very first month’s rent. It felt good! It also felt good to help fix their toilet (the handle broke already in their first month of staying downstairs) and do other little improvements to help improve their stay downstairs (and reduce liability LOL).
There you have it! My mega two part post on how to rent out your basement suite and gain a mortgage helper! Hope it helps and happy landlording!
Because I was badly burned by some seemingly responsible tenants the first time (they said they were interested and then neglected to return my calls later in the week to solidify the agreement), I was wary about the current tenants. I kept expecting them to find something better. Instead, they were delighted to have the space and actually signed. Even after they signed the lease agreement I was still waiting for them to back down. I actually didn’t believe it until I received the security deposit and the rent check. So now I can put my feet up and rest easy (I hope) with some rental income.
Lastly, if you want more information on basement suites and all their glory, check out my buddy Financial Uproar’s post on the rules to follow before you take the plunge and rent out your basement suite.
Readers, is there anything you’d like to add to this? Have you ever rented your basement suite out? Any horror stories? Any good stories?
You can change your Craigslist ad a bit and post more often.
A credit check is essential. I can’t believe anyone would rent a place out without checking credit first. Have fun being a landlord.
@retirebyforty- really? Maybe its different in the states because I would try earlier than 3 days and the button to “refresh” didn’t show up.
I thought we were more than just friends…
Anyway, thanks for the mention.
@Financial Uproar- Oh sorry!! I mean *ahem* my internet boyfriend. You’re welcome!
Very detailed post, Part I and Part II. I hope to get there some day…be a landlord. Congrats and good luck!
@SRL- I’m sure you will
Anyone can be one (hah even me!).
I was once mortgage free, and still renting out the basement of my house in Toronto- what Freedom!
Financially I mean. How much of your mortgage does the helper cover? 50%?
The thing i don’t like obviously is reporting the income, because my tax braket is on the high end I have to pay quite a bit even with the portion of write offs.
The tenants were annoying hahaha, they were relatively young and got into fights enough of the time that i yes I totally eavesdropped. it was tipsy relationship those two had. anyways, for a batchelor suite about 5 minutes from the subway maybe less, i posted the ad on “Viewit.ca” they gave me a free trial for 12 days.. in the first day it was rented out!!!!
if you have a good location you’ll be a landlord in no time.
Now I’m on to my second house and trying to pay it off within the next 3 yrs, i rent out the 2 spare bedrooms to international students, who are rarely home as they are exploring Toronto.. it’s lovely.. 750 per bedroom : )
@Kati- Yeah it’s close to 50% but if you factor in the utilities its a little less than that
Hahah Were they a couple? Sometimes I hear them laugh and I worry that they eavesdrop on me too. It has definitely added a level of paranoia to my day lol. Cool just had a look at Viewit and it looks helpful, though it’s just for Toronto.
I couldn’t imagine not doing a credit check. Sometimes scammers are the most charismatic. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think going with my gut is an option on this one whether the tenants get turned off or not. Thanks for writing this interesting series.
@Roshawn- Yeah, that’s true. For us, our tenants actually are not from Canada so they don’t have any Canadian credit to check. I did end up checking their previous rental references etc. We just went with it and they turned out really good, but I agree, that should be the exception rather than the rule.
$1.25? Wow you paid too much!
Your absolutely right Y&T, when posting on Craigslist you need to keep positng the ad over since the ads get buried. The rental agreement is essential…
btw best wishes to you and ur BF over the holidays
Cheers
The Dividend Ninja
@The Dividend Ninja- Haha! I am so frugal, aren’t I? Happy Holidays to you too Dividend Ninja!
I think my rental agreement would be a size of a book! lol I would be a landlord from hell: more NOT ALLOWED clauses than anything allowed. Oh well… That’s why I don’t think I would rent anything ever.
@Aloysa- haha, what kind of things would you choose to not allow? No picture frames hanging up? No noise?
Great tips! I’m not a landlord yet, but I would definitely be running credit checks and checking references. You don’t want to get stuck with the tenant from hell!
@Little House- Very true! Reading Sandy’s experiences have definitely made me more cautious!
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